United States jobless claims rise to five-month high, trend still positive

The previous week’s claims figure did not get revisied.

Unemployment claims hit their highest level in five months last week, according to a Department of Labor report released Thursday.

“Claims tend to follow a very consistent seasonal pattern and this is the time of year when claims tend to rise”, he said.

On the payrolls side of the labor equation, employers added 211,000 workers in November after a 298,000 advance the prior month that was bigger than previously estimated. The four-week moving average of the so-called continuing claims rose 16,500 to 2.18 million.

United States financial markets were little moved by the data.

The Labor Department said there were no special factors affecting the latest weekly numbers.

US import prices fell in November as the cost of petroleum and several goods continued to decline, suggesting that cheaper crude oil and a strong dollar will keep imported inflation pressures subdued for a while.

In the 12 months through November, prices tumbled 9.4 percent. The unemployment rate has held at 5 percent.

Although claims are up, overall applications are still near a 40-year low.

Prices have been on a downward trend throughout this year, slipping each month with the exception of May and June. Prices for industrial supplies, excluding petroleum fell 1.0 percent after a similar drop in October. Export prices had been expected to dip to by 0.3 percent.

Compared to the same month a year ago, import prices were down by 9.4 percent in November, and export prices were down by 6.3 percent.